Hull City need to go against everything you would expect this week and select the Under-23s for the league cup.

After four games of the league season, the start of the league cup is usually a great time to introduce one or two of your fringe players into the side, a chance to give someone like Jarrod Bowen more game time to develop.

It’s an opportunity to fresh things up, rest a few senior players perhaps, but get a positive result on the board if you can and help breed confidence throughout the squad.

It’ completely different for City, however, when we think about tomorrow night’s game at Doncaster.

This is a game that Leonid Slutsky does not want right now. His already thin squad is down to the bare bones and the last thing the manager wants is the risk of injury to anyone else.

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QPR v Hull City

For me it’s all about keeping the players fresh for Friday night’s match at home to Bolton Wanderers.

Right now, as things stand, a successful season is staying in this division, not putting a run together in the league cup so Slutsky should protect everyone and play his under-23s side against Doncaster and if you get fined, so be it.

Even the likes of Bowen should be rested, he’s become too important to risk.

Jarrod Bowen of Hull City

Players like Michael Dawson won’t benefit from three games in a just under a week and if the captain breaks down, a defence that’s lacking options will be in serious trouble.

It’s just about coming through tomorrow with nobody else breaking down.

It’s a shame it’s come to this because good recruitment would have left the club in a healthy position to have a crack in the cup, but that cannot be the case this season in their current state.